Former Commerce CIO Szykman joins Attain, LLC

Attain, LLC, a leading management, strategy, and technology consulting firm, announced today that Dr. Simon Szykman, former Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of its Federal Services division.

In his new, private sector CTO role, Szykman will oversee Attain’s federal solutions, leveraging his decades of experience and understanding of federal needs and priorities. He will also be responsible for leading the firm’s strategic corporate alliances and associated go to market strategies.

“I am very excited to have joined Attain, having been highly impressed by not only their technical competencies but more importantly the commitment of its leadership to serving clients, mentoring and developing talent, and building a company that will endure for the long term,” said Szykman. “I’m looking forward to providing strategic technology leadership to the company, and helping to bring Attain’s capabilities to bear on the government’s most pressing challenges,” he said.

“As Federal Services CTO, Simon will play an integral role in Attain’s mission to deliver market leading results to our clients through the best transformational services and solutions that overcome the challenges of complex government missions,” said Manish Agarwal, President of Attain Federal Services. “We are proud to welcome him to the Attain team,” said Agarwal.

Szykman was named CIO of Commerce in May 2010, where he spent four years providing leadership, establishing policy, and maintaining oversight for information technology investments across the Department’s dozen bureaus. He came up the ranks at Commerce through the Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where he had served as CIO prior to moving into his department-level role. He stepped down from his post as Commerce CIO in June.

Previously, Szykman served as the Director of the National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD), where he led coordination of planning, budget, and assessment activities for the Federal NITRD Program. Other roles he held include Senior Policy Analyst for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where he focused on technology-related issues such as cyber security and high-end computing, and serving as the first Director of Cyber Security R&D at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“Simon exemplifies the market mover leadership that Attain has, and will continue to tap as we grow,” said Attain Chairman and CEO Greg Baroni. “With an unparalleled team of domain and technical experts who understand our clients, we can help take their missions to the next level of success.”

Szykman earned his Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees from Carnegie Mellon University. He also holds a Master of Engineering Management degree from George Washington University, and received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Rochester.

About Attain

Based in Vienna, Va., Attain is a leading management, technology and strategy consulting firm comprised of innovative problem solvers who deliver tangible results to address today’s complex public sector, health, and higher education challenges. Attain’s transformative business and IT solutions and services deliver market-leading results to our customers in the government and health markets, as well as the higher education, academic medical center and non-profit communities. For more information, please visit www.attain.com.